Fluid supply for dental engines



April 11, 1950 R. w. PAGE 2,503,294

I FLUID SUPPLY FOR DENTAL ENGINES Filed Sept. 13, 1946 Riahard W 131515r INVENTOR Patented Apr. 11, 1950 UNITED rsT-Arrejs- PATENT FwmsUP LY F-R DENTALPENGINES :RiehardPage, Chappaqua, N. Y. App ication summer 13,194'6,-seria1aNo.696360 71 This invention relatesto dental apparatus.

The general objectof the invention is to provide an improvedarrangement'for leading fiuid supplylines along a dental engine armtoa'dental instrument.

With this and still other Objects which will-appear in the "followingfull description in mind, the invention consists "in the combinationsand arran'gements of parts and detaiisof construction which will nowfirst be "fully-described in connection with the accompanying drawingand then :be more "particularly pointed out in 'th'e appende'd claims.

In the drawing:

' Figure 1 is an elevationv'iew of adental engine arm embodying theinvention in a preferred form;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the apparatus of 'Figure '1adjacent the hand piece;

-Figure 3'is an enlarged view of a portion of "the apparatus of Figure 1adjacent the shoulder joint of the enginearm;

Figure 4 is a detail view looking inthe direction of the arrow 4 ofFigure'2 and showing a clip used for holding fluid supply lines at thehand piece; 7

Figure 5'is a sectional view taken'longitudinally of one of the fluidsupply'lines and showin-gthe relation thereof to the clip of Figure'4;

Figure 6 is a view looking in the direction of the arrow "6 of Figure 2,and showing a clip for holding the fluid supply lines at an engine armjoint; and

Figure "7 'is a section taken on'the'line 1-? of Figure 2, and showingdetails adjacent the joint of Figure 2. V

'In my previously filed applications, Serial 'No'.511,073Qfi1ed'Noverriber' 20, 1943, now Patent No. 254-20338; for'Dentalapparatus, and Serial No. 671,784, filed May '23, 1946, for Dental"instruments, I have disclosed apparatus for supplying air and water'toa'drillin'g instrument. The present invention is an improvement thereon,being concerned with the 'lead or arrangement of fluid supply linesalong the-engine arm and being applicable generally for the supplying of"fluid at the hand piece or other drill instrument, ior

vhatever purpose desired. The "fluid line ari ange'ment at the handpiece is shown in. the I latter application referred to, but not claimedtherein.

Figure 1 shows -a,-conv.enti'onal engine iarm sup ported upon a standardgonly the apper pow tion of "which is :shown, :it 'bein'g understoodthat the substructure supporting the same will :bef'of the usual type.'At'theupperkend'of the-standard l is an inverted U-shaped member orgooseneek 2, the '=motor'3 and arm-section 4 fixed thereto, beingpivotally supported at the point 5 "in a terminal fork of thegooseneckt. .As' will b'e u'nderstood, the entire arm assembly may be2mtatedabout a vertical-axis where the gooseneck 2 is supported by thestandard t. The :fengine arm also comprises a shouider 'joint -ty asecond arm section '7, an elbow joint 83a third arm sec-- tion 8, awrist joint 'l'Uand-a fourtharm s'e'ction t I, at the end of which thehand piece is mounted in the usual way. It will be understood that eachof the joints '6, 8 and H3, provides for hinging '(about axesperpendicular to the plane of the figure) so as "to increaseordecrease-th'e an les between adjacent arm-sections, and m'oreover,pivotal movement of the a'djacenta'rmr's'eotions with relation to eachother and about the arm section axesis provided iory'as at the pointsI?! and t3. Each joint comprises a "generally triangular hinge frameelement 1 4 to which the adjacent arms are hingedly secured and on thefaces of whiehapaimr pulleys 'ltare carried' by means of "a shaft lfi,the pulley -"shaft being "1c: cated on the inside of the hinge. Themotoriyis provided with a drive pulley TH and the hand piece 1-8 isprovided with a'drivenpulle y '9,=a belt ZIP being led around pulleys "Iand :t't and' around the pulleys 15 as indicatedinfull lines in Figure1, and in dotted lines in the other figures. fillhe belt Zliiscarried-aroun'dall guidepulleys t5 so as to be at the back or outside ofthe hinges. The engine arm 'and "belt lead as thus far des'cz ihed arewell known and conventional, the present invention consisting in fluid"supply line elements for attachment to such an engine arm and themanner of combining the'same therewith. As will be observed, each of"the joints 'of the engine arm "of Figure l'is capable of beingstraightened out, or practically straightened out, so'that'thebelt-courses run substantially straight past the hinges. Bending the"hinges further "in the same'direction would result in the belt reevingthe pulleys, and the hinges are 'cons't cited to prevent such furtherbending. Acc'or 7 g g; thebelt is'ledcilbng 'th'e'outside or b'a'cks'off'the hinges at each join'tand'will remain on the guide pulleysat alltimes. While the belt 'cour'sesiare shown as parallel in the figure, "itwillhe under: stood that when any of the joints is rotated with respectto 'anoth'er joint, about the axis of "the engine arm sectiontherebetweeh, *the ib'elt courses will no longer be parallel but i will"Wrap about the engine arm section, sliding smoothly thereon as isusual. The present invention provides a fluid supply line lead whichwill not interfere with the belt action, even if the engine arm jointsare pivoted so as to wrap the belt courses on an arm section.

Flexible air and water supply lines 30 and 3| terminate at the handpiece, being fastened within a fitting 32 mounted thereon. This fittingpreferably comprises a valve box, as fully described in my secondapplication above referred to. The lines pass to either side of the handpiece and down through apertures 33 of a guide fitting 34 which has alarge aperture 35 forming a rin for fitting over central elements of rthe hand piece and being pressed between elements 36 and 31 thereof, asshown. These hand piece elements are conventional and the manner ofattachment of the fitting 34 will be apparent to those skilled in thart. A bushing 38 is in- L serted in each of the tubes 30 and 3| and hasa somewhat expanded upper end, as indicated in Figure 5, which shows asection through the tube 30, where it passes through an aperture 33 inthe fitting 34. The bushings 38 prevent the a tubes from slidingbackwardly through the apertures 33. Suflicient slack is provided topermit rotation of the fitting 32 relative to fitting 34, one or theother of the supply lines wrapping on the hand piece. A supply line mayalso be pulled slightly through the fittin 34 to accommodate an extremerotation, but a definite minimum slack is insured at all times by thebushlugs 38.

The tubes 30 and 3| continue side by side to 1 the wrist joint In, wherethey pass between clip or guide elements 39 formed on a belt guardmember 40 which has a recessed central portion fitting over the frameplate M of the joint and which is fastened to the frame plate l4, as bymeans of a screw 4|. The guard plate 40 also has side flanges 42 at eachside coming down over the pulleys l5 as indicated. A similar plate 40 isprovided at the joint 8. Its mode of attachment and relation to thetubing being the same as in the case of the joint I0, it required nofurther description.

The fluid supply lines 33 and 3| are led along the arm section I totheinside of the shoulder joint l5, each of these lines passing througha coil spring 43 fastened to the first arm section 4 as by screws 44,and the lines 3|! and 3| are then led along the first arm section 4,bein held thereto by clips 45. The springs 43, tending to straightenout, serve as slack take-ups for the tubing, takingup any slack whichmay be created by placing the engine arm elements in their vari- -ouspositions during the use of the drill or other made for all the-usual;movements 01' the engine 'arm without interference between the" drivebelt and the fluid supply lines and without'having loose supply linesaround the engine arm, or creating an untidy appearance or interferencewith the operator. 7

3 The courses of the fluid supply lines between the fitting 34 and thefitting 32 of the hand piece permit, as will readily be apparent, almosta full rotation of th fitting 32 with relation to the fitting 34, thecourses of the tubing 30 and 3| merely wrapping the hand piece in onedirection or the other and sufficient slack being provided for thispurpose.

The hand piece may also be turned about the joint l3 without causinginterference between the drive belt and the fluid supply lines, as thefluid supply lines will wrap adjacent the joint I3 while the beltsextend diagonally in different directions as guided by the pulleys, soas not 'to engage the supply lines. If joint In is rotated relatively tojoint 8, the fluid supply lines will wrap somewhat about the arm section9, passing closest to or touching the same midway between the joints andat an angular location midway between the angles at which the joints areturned with relation to each other. Since the fluid supply lines arepositioned approximately midway between the pulleys, the courses of thebelt will remain to either side of the fluid supply lines and will comein contact with the engine arm section 9 rather than the supply lines,so that no interference with the operation is created.

When the section 1 is considered, it will be observed that the drivebelt courses cross the arm section 7 in passing from the outside of thejoint 6 to the outside of the joint 8. The fluid supply lines, however,do not cross the arm section in the position of the figure. When theelbow joint is rotated, in either direction, one belt course will bestraightened out and the other will wrap, While the fluid supply lineswill wrap to one side of the one course and inside the line of travel ofthe other, creating no interference.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the character described, a dental engine armcomprising a plurality of sections joined together for pivotal andhinging movement by wrist, elbow and shoulder hinges. guide pulleyscarried by the hinges for guiding a belt along the arm sections andoutside the hinges, a fluid supply line, means for attaching the fluidsupply line to the engine arm inside the shoulder hinge and including aslack takeup, and means for attaching the fluid supply line outside theelbow and wrist hinges.

2. In a device of the character described. a dental engine armcomprising a plurality of sections joined together for pivotal andhinging movement by wrist, elbow and shoulder hinges, guide pulleyscarried by the hinges for guiding a belt along the arm sections andoutside the hinges, a fluid supply line, means for attaching the fluidsupply line to the engine arm inside the shoulder hinge and including aslack take-up, and means for attaching the fluid supply line outside theelbow and wrist hinges and guiding them therearoundoutside and midway ofthe belt courses at the hinges.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with anengine arm and hand piece of two fluid supply lines, means for guidingthe fluid supply linesalongthe engine arm to the hand piece, a fittingfor attaching the fluid supply lines to the hand piece, a second fittingadjacent the pulley end of thehand piece for guiding the fluid supplylines; the said fluid supply lines passing to opposite sides of the handpiece be tween the two fittings and having slack for permitting relativeturning of the fittings, and means for preventing movement of the supplylines backwardly through the second-said fitting;

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with anengine arm and hand piece of two fluid supply lines, means for guidingthe fluid supply lines along the engine arm to the hand piece, a fittingfor attaching the fluid supply lines to thehand piece, a second fittingadjacent the pulley end of the hand piece for guiding the fluid supplylines, the said fluid supply lines passing to opposite sides of the handpiece between the two fittings, and means for preventing movement of thesupply lines backwardly through the second said fitting while permittingforward movement thereof to create slack and permit relative turning ofthe said fittings.

5. A device according to claim 4, in which the means for guiding thesupply lines along the engine arm comprise guides permitting slidingthereof and a slack take-up for taking up slack in said lines betweenthe shoulder joint of the engine arm and the said second fitting.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination with anengine arm and hand piece of two fluid supply lines, means for guidingthe fluid supply lines along the engine arm to the hand piece, a fittingfor attaching the fluid supply lines to the hand piece, a second fittingadjacent the pulley end of the hand piece and having apertures forguiding the fluid supply lines, the said fluid supply lines passing toopposite sides of the hand piece between the two fittings and containingbushings for preventing movement backwardly through the said aperture,whereby a predetermined minimum slack for permitting relative turning ofthe fittings is provided.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination with anengine arm hinge having belt guide pulleys on its faces, of a fluidsupply line guide member fastened to the back of the hinge for holdingfluid supply lines outside and midway of the guide pulleys.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination with anengine arm hinge having belt guide pulleys on its faces, of a fluidsupply 6 line guide member fastened to the back of the hinge for holdingfluid supply lines outside and midway of the guide pulleys andpermitting sliding movement of the supply lines.

9. In a device of the character described, an engine arm section havingwrist and elbow hinges according to claim 7 on each end thereof andembodying provision for pivotal movement of the said hinges with respectto each other about the engine arm section axis, whereby when the saidhinges are so pivoted the fluid supply lines will wrap upon the enginearm section midway between the belt courses and without coming betweeneither of the belt courses and the engine arm section. I

10. In a device of the character described, an engine arm section havingan elbow hinge according to claim '7 at one end thereof and a shoulderhinge at the other end thereof, pulleys on the faces of the shoulderhinge, belt courses led over the outside of the pulleys on both saidhinges and crossing the engine arm section when in parallelism, andfluid supply lines carried by the guide member of the elbow hinge andattached to the inside of the shoulder hinge, whereby when the hingesare pivoted with relation to one another about the enginearm sectionaxis, the fluid supply lines will wrap upon the engine arm sectionwithout coming between the engine arm section and the belt course whichwraps thereon and the fluid supply lines will lie inside the belt coursewhich moves toward parallelism with the engine arm section during suchpivotal movement.

RICHARD W. PAGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Vision-aire pamphlets (2) March 24, 1936. Ritter Catalog, page 5, Nov.14, 1939.

